{"id":180,"date":"2016-03-21T00:27:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-21T00:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.racereportblog.com\/?p=180"},"modified":"2025-02-25T20:53:08","modified_gmt":"2025-02-25T20:53:08","slug":"race-report-nyc-half-marathon-march-20-2016","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racereportblog.com\/?p=180","title":{"rendered":"NYC Half Marathon – March 20, 2016"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NYC<\/p>\n

First race of the year, and I am inexplicably nervous.\u00a0 I mean, there\u2019s some reality to this:\u00a0 my NYC Marathon in November was terrible, both as to results and the actual running experience; a groin injury I already had was exacerbated by that race so that I didn\u2019t run until mid-January; I actually took six fascia stretch training (FST) sessions with the amazing Adrienne Ingalls<\/a> , and THEN six running lessons for to learn how to run properly and not get injured with the amazing Scott Carvin<\/a>\u00a0at the Mile High Run Club;\u00a0and to get back to running without re-injury, my training was not high intensity (at least, to the extent I followed the plans of the brilliant and patient\u00a0Debi\u00a0Bernardes<\/a>\u00a0at Ucandoit Coaching (my mainstay, now in my fifth season).<\/p>\n

But because I traditionally have no idea whatsoever as to what I can accomplish until the race is over, I didn\u2019t know whether my 8:30 to 9:00 minute\/mile training pace could translate to better than the 7:21 minute\/mile I\u2019ve done in my best half marathon (1:36), so I had fantasies about doing 1:35.\u00a0 (I know, I know:\u00a0 it\u2019s a sad state of affairs, or a limited imagination, when your fantasy is reduced to a running a better half marathon\u2026).<\/p>\n

It was cold.\u00a0 Despite the prior week of 60-70 degree weather, the thermometer dropped (watch out!\u00a0 Did it break?) to 35-36 degrees. \u00a0Planned\u00a0to warm up, doing my drills (squats, high knees, skips, kick butt \u2013 my own, that is) – \u00a0all of which\u00a0prompted\u00a0comments from the folks who live near me but were typical of\u00a0the runners waiting around me. Of course, the extra layers got sweaty, and then I\u2019m cold, anyway\u2026<\/p>\n

Based on my optimistic prediction, I\u2019m in the first wave, second corral, so feeling pretty jacked up, but no one is joking or talking, everyone is grim \u2013 that is, everyone other than the Van Cortlandt Park team, including the indomitable Benny, clad only in shorts, tank top and arm warmers<\/p>\n

The race starts, and I can\u2019t help myself, I go out fast, but it feels great, I keep checking in with my form and I feel solid\u00a0for the first mile (whoa, 7:16!), and the second (6:58, on the downhill from Central Park), and even the third (7:06 \u2013 gee, I didn\u2019t remember this big loop out around 110th<\/sup> Street past the building I used to think of as the first Trump Tower – ugh).\u00a0 But my heart rate average is in high Zone 3 (okay but can I keep this up?), and we start going up Heartbreak Hill and I drop to 7:39 and then 7:35 (well, I have those fast miles to average against), and at mile 6 leaving the park it\u2019s 7:24 (hmm, this average isn\u2019t working well), then 7:26, a mile of hope when I hit 7:06 at mile 8, running through Times Square!<\/p>\n

\"NYCHALF16_COURSE.times<\/a><\/p>\n

I keep checking in with myself:\u00a0 am I having fun?\u00a0 Yeah, mostly.\u00a0 But by now my average heart rate is zone 4, and it stays there for miles 7 to 13, and by definition, I am really uncomfortable, and this probably isn\u2019t sustainable, right?\u00a0 And mile 9 is 7:36, hmm\u2026\u00a0 And my left calf starts cramping from mile 9 to mile 10, and despite Scott\u2019s training I decide not to push off strong at the end of each step to try to lessen the cramping, and mile 10 is my worst at 7:44 (reminding me of a Simpsons scene that\u00a0running buddy Vasilis told me:\u00a0 Bart: \u201cThis is the worst day of my life!\u201d\u00a0 Homer:\u00a0 \u201cSo far\u2026\u201d), because my next mile is 7:58 (well at least I\u2019m breaking 8 minutes), and now BOTH calves are cramping and I\u2019m afraid to stop and take a salt tablet for fear of seizing up entirely (which I do, after the finish), then 7:48 for mile 12 (a modest reprieve).\u00a0 \u00a0And then, incredible, despite my plans to crank up the turnover like I practiced (isn\u2019t the race over after the Battery Park Tunnel? Oh, no, not at all\u2026), 9:58 for the final 1.1 miles.<\/p>\n

\"NYCHALF16_COURSE.tunnel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Which leaves me at 1:39:32, 8 seconds behind my first and slowest HM, on the same course, in 2013.\u00a0 But I\u2019m done, thank you, and up until the cramping, I was mostly having fun.<\/p>\n

And no injury.\u00a0 That\u2019s a new success.<\/p>\n

Not until after the race did I remember:\u00a0 my more realistic goal had been to run 7:30 minute miles.\u00a0 And I came close, with a 7:36 average, one second per mile slower than my 2013 race.\u00a0 Given the injury from which I recovered, the relatively brief training during the winter, and the sheer force of gravity (what other people refer to as \u201cgetting older\u201d), not a bad result.<\/p>\n

The NYC Marathon on 11\/9\/16 is my A race this year, so:\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to commit to doing Scott’s\u00a0drills until running properly becomes second nature (sans<\/em> Charlie horses).\u00a0 And Coach Debi says to take up kettle bells, so my core is stronger and dependable. (More lessons\u2026)\u00a0 Meanwhile, there\u2019s another half marathon in April, at a location not too far away\u2026<\/p>\n

Welcome back to racing, indeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First race of the year, and I am inexplicably nervous.\u00a0 I mean, there\u2019s some reality to this:\u00a0 my NYC Marathon in November was terrible, both as to results and the actual running experience; a groin injury I already had was exacerbated by that race so that I didn\u2019t run until mid-January; I actually took six […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2016-races"],"yoast_head":"\nNYC Half Marathon - March 20, 2016 - Race Report Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/racereportblog.com\/?p=180\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NYC Half Marathon - 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